Holcim Foundation Awards celebrate sustainability with 20 winners; Sou Fujimoto explains all

The Holcim Foundation Awards have just announced 20 winning projects for the honour's 2025 cycle. The accolade, which flags ambition and inspiration in ongoing schemes in the realm of architecture and sustainability, was designed to highlight work that offers ‘a modern definition of best practice in sustainable design’, the organisers explain.

Organised across five territories – Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and North America – the 2025 Holcim Foundation Awards were judged by dedicated juries for each region grouping. A prize pool of 1 million USD is then divided across the winners, with five regional Grand Prize winners being pulled from their respective territory winning schemes. All winners are celebrated equally, while the Grand Prize winners will be announced in an awards ceremony in Venice on 20 November 2025.

The 2025 Holcim Foundation Awards - through the eyes of Sou Fujimoto

What marks a truly sustainable project? The organisation behind the awards, the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, defines this as a design that promotes a healthy planet through sensible resource management and future-proofed impact in both construction and in terms of viable economics; supports its users and helps communities thrive; and ultimately, creates uplifting places for its users to enjoy.

Sou Fujimoto served as jury chair for the Asia Pacific region (the other jury chairs include Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, Sandra Barclay, Lina Ghotmeh and Jeanne Gang). We met with him to find out more about the prestigious award and its goals.

Wallpaper*: What were you looking for when judging the award?

Sou Fujimoto: [The main criterion was] sustainability – we were looking for the future. The entries were so varied, from a tiny project relating to the local community to large-scale national projects. In the end, we got a good balance. It is important to talk about choice and balancing scale. It’s a key message. So it's like we don’t have a single direction, but several, and even smaller projects can be very significant.

W*: That is so true. There is a smaller community space, but also an entire city among your winners. How do you compare them?

SF: Even bigger projects are for human beings. They affect larger populations, but you still want them to be connected to the human element. Everything ultimately relates to human activities and the environment.

W*: How do you feel might awards make a difference? Why do awards matter?

SF: Recognition is important for a designer and their client, but of course, I think it's more important for the public, because they will see what is appreciated, and they will see the overall message. We are always thinking about our contribution to society, and to the world, for the Earth.

W*: Did you see common threads among the entries overall, or the winners?

SF: Every region has its different ways of addressing things and expressing solutions. Natural materials, recycling, reusing, and refurbishment were central everywhere – I’d say maybe using natural materials was the most common thread found. At the same time, it’s good to have different directions; it is very helpful, because sometimes forcing one direction can be quite restrictive.

W*: Does this approach of getting closer to nature and natural materials resonate in your own work?

SF: I grew up in Hokkaido, Northern Japan, and there, I was surrounded by nature. I was playing in nature, in the forest. That was my childhood. And then, of course, I came to Tokyo, which is a super artificial city, full of winding, narrow streets, electric poles and cables, and it can be rather chaotic. But it also grew organically; it’s an ecosystem, so in a way, my childhood and this big city overlapped. Now, I am trying to create architecture like a forest, together with greenery and trees, and with natural materials. We should understand the environment and not divide it from architecture.

20 ambitious and inspirational winning projects - the complete list

Asia Pacific

Gelephu Mindfulness City - Gelephu, Bhutan | BIG – BJARKE INGELS GROUP

Healing Through Design - Bengaluru, India | THE AGAMI PROJECT / A THRESHOLD

Old Dhaka Central Jail Conservation - Dhaka, Bangladesh | FORM.3 ARCHITECTS

Pingshan River Blueway Landscape - Shenzhen, China | SASAKI ASSOCIATES, INC.

Europe

Art-Tek Tulltorja - Pristina, Kosovo | RAFI SEGAL A+U, OFFICE OF URBAN DRAFTERS, ORG PERMANENT MODERNITY, STUDIO REV

School in Gaüses - Girona, Spain | TED'A ARQUITECTES

The Crafts College - Herning, Denmark | DORTE MANDRUP

The Southern River Parks - Madrid, Spain | ALDAYJOVER ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE

Latin America

Barrio Chacarita Alta Housing - Asunción, Paraguay | MOS ARCHITECTS & ADAMO FAIDEN

Return of the Lost Gardens - Medellín, Colombia | CONNATURAL

Schools for Flood-Prone Areas - Porto Alegre, Brazil | ANDRADE MORETTIN ARQUITETOS ASSOCIADOS, SAUERMARTINS

Sesc Parque Dom Pedro II - São Paulo, Brazil | UNA ARQUITETOS

Middle East & Africa

Brookside Secondary School - Asaba, Nigeria | STUDIO CONTRA

Qalandiya: the Green Historic Maze - Qalandiya, Palestinian Territory | RIWAQ – CENTRE FOR ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION

Waldorf School - Nairobi, Kenya | URKO SÁNCHEZ ARCHITECTS

Zando Central Market - Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo | THINK TANK ARCHITECTURE

North America

Buffalo Crossing Visitor Centre - Winnipeg, MB, Canada | STANTEC ARCHITECTURE

Lawson Centre for Sustainability - Toronto, ON, Canada | MECANOO ARCHITECTEN

Moakley Park - Boston, MA, United States | STOSS LANDSCAPE URBANISM

Portland Intl. Main Terminal - Portland, OR, United States | ZGF

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